Contents

Types of mods

There are a lot of mods available in GTA IV, probably because the flexibility of the RAGE engine and the modders' creativity. But commonly, you can divide the mods into a few different types:

Text-based mod

Players say that this is the first mod ever released in Grand Theft Auto IV since they are easily edited by text editor applications such as Notepad. Mods that includes to these types are:

weapondata.xml mod - This mod usually changes the specifica

Handling.dat

tion of the weapon, such as rate of fire, damage of the weapon, the amount of ammo carried, etc.

timecyc.dat mod - This mod usually changes the weather in Grand Theft Auto IV, such as the number of clouds in one time, brightness, weather saturation, etc.

handling.dat, vehicle.dat, and carcols.dat mod - This mod usually changes the specification of the car, handling.dat is for the handling, carcols.dat is for the car colors, and vehicle.dat is for the characteristic of the car, like Anims, Game Name, Dirt Level, etc. In the early years of IV modding, this is only for editing the default car, but now it usually used with a car mod.

gta.dat, images.txt mod - This is a newer mod, usually used with a map mod

Modders edit .dat, .txt or .xml files for text-based mods.

Texture mod

Grand Theft Auto V Theme Texture Mod

After a few months or maybe even years in Grand Theft Auto modding, one player invented the application to unwrap .img files that used to archived some core file in Grand Theft Auto IV. This invention made an opportunity for players to edit Grand Theft Auto IV even more. Texture mods are basically made by replacing one texture in GTA IV with an edited one.

Modders edit .wtd files for texture modding and usually use Photoshop or Corel as an edit application. Usually players who are new to modding do texture mods before doing any other type of mod.

Model mods

This type of mod is still continuing now and is one of

Weapon Modding in Grand Theft Auto IV

the most famous types of mod. Modders edit .wdr, .wft or .wdd for the Model Mods and .wtd for the textures. This type of mod is divided to the more specific mod types like:

Weapon Mod: These change the default weapon to a modded weapon

Car Mod: These change the default car to a modded car

Player Mod: These change the player into another character

Even though this type of mod is really famous, only expert modders can successfully use a model mod; this is because it demands 3D skill, include texturing the model and converting it to a GTA IV look.

Modders usually use Zmodeler or 3DS Max as an edit tool in this type of mod.

Map mod

This mod is pretty similar to the model mod, but it adds to or edits the map of Grand Theft Auto IV. Usually, modders use 3DS Max as an edit tool for this kind of mod and they edit .wdr for the model, .wbn for collision and .wtd for textures. For the installation, you need to change gta.dat and images.txt to make the mod appear. The size of this mod is relative. The small map mod can be 5-20 MB of file. The larger ones can reach 300 MB.

Graphic mod

The default graphics in Grand Theft Auto IV are pretty gloomy and yellowish. Some people don't like it, so modders try to use Graphic Mods.
Firstly, the Graphic Mod is just timecyc (Weather) mod, it can remove the yellowish bug and can make the graphics become much better than it normally is.

This is where Russian Modder Boris Vorontsov comes in with his extraordinary mod, ENB. It was a "major breakthrough" in Grand Theft Auto IV modding history, because it showed the true potential of the RAGE engine. The ENB can make the graphics in GTA IV a lot better.

As time passed, modders edited some of the default files in ENB to make it even better, like editing textures, editing visualsettings.dat, effects, etc.

The current version of ENB is v0.135 and is still in its developing stage.

Script mod

Example of the Script Mod, Air Combat IV by JulioNIB

Modders who work on this type of mod have must have great programming skills like knowledge of the .vb Programming language.

One of the famous mods of this type is Simple Native Trainer; it helps players do many things like spawn cars, use a mission select, have an Object Spawner, Time changer, etc. There is also another mod like ELS that help us to make a sirens glow in modded cars. Then there is EPM to make some parts in the car, like spoilers move. Left 4 Liberty makes a zombie invasion come to Liberty City and a recent one is Air Combat IV, which makes it so players can fly an airplane.

Before installing a script mod, you have to install ASI Loader and Scripthook to make the script mod work.

Requirements

There are some requirements to make some mods work. You can download these from various sites.

Patch

Patches are needed to run some of the mods. The difference of the version of the patch can make the results of the mod become different.

For example, ENB runs great mostly on patch 1.0.4.0, yet it has a weird bug called Red Sky Bug, which makes the sky turn red. This is in 1.0.7.0 or in EFLC; however, Boris, the creator of the ENB, is trying to make an ENB with all versions compatible. In another example, the LCPDFR script mod, which can make us work as the LCPD, is not compatible in patch 1.0.4.0 and only supports the latest patch.

Mod ready

Some players can't run mods because their Grand Theft Auto IV is not for modding, but now there's a patch to

One of the example of Mod Installer, OpenIV

make GTA IV become mod-able.

Mod Installer Application

Some mods, especially model mods, are requiring a mod installer application in order to be installed. You can use either SparkIV or OpenIV to do this job. It takes some habituation to be able to use this application. However, it's a short-term habituation.

Needed mods

Script mods usually demand you to install ASI Loader and Scripthook.dll first to get the mod to work.

Needed applications

To make a mod work, you may need to install some applications or utilities to your OS like DotNet' Framework 4.0', Directx9, etc.

Solution for bugs and disavantage of the mods

Some mods produce Bugs and even errors to Grand Theft Auto IV. Below is a few bugs and there solutions.

SMPA60 error

Do not park modded cars in a garage; it can make an error SMPA60.

If you use AntiAliasing in ENB, your screen will be cut, don't panic. Just hit enter when the menu screen appears. This is the best solution.

Do not use ENB if your specs are low. If you play GTA IV and it really lags, then don't use ENB because it can significantly lower your frame rate.

Some script mods will make the game get an error. Don't forget to back up your file!

Some mods can ruin your Save Game. Do not save the game while using some scripts like Left4Liberty.

Some errors can be caused by mods. Remember what the last mod was that you installed.

ENB can cause the No Texture Bug, lower you resolution or ENB/game quality or you can use commandline

Read me before installing. That can help you understand what you are about to install

If you caught an error you don't understand, you can always search it in the search engine